Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) I already wondered about this but I just noticed that the smaller flat cable that goes to the MMU is "the other way around" mounted on the chip connector on my U1MB. It's not very handy this way with the cartridge slot.... Edited February 4, 2015 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Here's the thing: these aren't made to order any more. They're "one fits all". Some people don't even know which machine they're gonna put the board in when they order it. The cable exiting the back of the connector is ideal for the XE but not for the XL. If you have a desk vice, piece of wood and a jeweller's screwdriver you can pop the connector off and reassemble it with the cable coming out the front. I've done so many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Yeah it's no biggy. But this causes mistakes if it keeps changing all the time and people post pics that you use as a reference by lack of a proper manual.... Now I need to flash some stuff on that U1MB.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 The universally accepted convention of Pin 1=red wire at both ends is pretty much all you need to remember. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 A problem I ran into the other day when fitting one to a 130XE is the fact the right angle gold pin headers Lotharek now fits to either side of the Ultimate make the whole assembly needlessly wide. Because (as usual) I chose to fit the board in the Candle-recommended position (on two nylon spacers screwed to the mainboard above the video jack), I found that the MMU IDC connector got in the way of the screw pillar on the 130XE's case. I had to desolder the right angle pins and fit straight ones so the IDC connector pushes on from the top. Why the original enclosed IDC headers were abandoned I do not know (presumably a cost-cutting measure or to appease people who found the whole thing too tall, which is a problem I never encountered once) but it's a major regression IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Some pictures illustrate the above point a little better: And this shows why the cables exit the rear of the Harting connectors (they're XE-centric): The lack of IDC housings on the Ultimate board also introduces more scope for errors among the uninitiated, since without the housings it's possible to attach the IDC ribbon connectors backwards. The housings, meanwhile, are keyed so there's no possibility of error (see outline on PCB mask). Edited February 4, 2015 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Foam mounting tape solves many of these problems. I looked around my XE for a suitable spot given the constraints of the ribbon cables, etc. and finally said F... It -- and laid it across the RF modulator at an angle with plastic insulation and some foam tape to hold it in place. But certainly if you were installing these for someone else, that would not be a good option. My vote would be to make both of the ribbon cables a couple of inches longer to give more flexibility in mounting. And to that end, I bought some new connectors from Jameco and (one of these days) I'll make some new cables and clean up the installation. -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) Making your own cables is almost always the best option. In the machine (which doesn't belong to me) pictured above, both cables had to be shortened in order to accomplish a neat installation. In fact - if I could be bothered - I'd have removed the right-angle pins from the OS ROM header on the Ultimate and re-attached the ribbon cable so that it came in to the right hand side of the IDC ribbon connector. I'd have also fitted proper housed IDC connectors if I had any, but I've already chewed on enough fitting gold pins, Dupont connectors, nylon spacers, screws, and other bits missing from various upgrades in this machine. Although everyone is ultimately and obviously free to install things how they wish, my vote is to do it properly, which is to say in the way Candle originally envisioned it. This is what you see in the above photos, and the machines belonging to me (four of them, all luckily containing original black PCB Ultimates) are the same. All the complaints regarding the brevity of installation instructions suggest that people like guidance in these matters, and I'd extend that idea to actually mounting the board inside the machine. However, the vendor provides no guidance in that matter, other than photographs you might find depicting Ultimate 1MB boards he's anchored to the plastic casing with self-tapping screws which poke out of the ECI port on the outside. The older I get, the more I see where ProWizard is coming from with regard to external upgrades, although I like internal upgrades and believe they can be accomplished in a removable fashion and without altering the outward appearance of the computer. The reason I'd still like a stock 1200XL is that there's absolutely no going back on my heavily modded example. But the rest of my modified Ataris - were all the internal upgrades removed - would be back to stock on the inside, apart from a couple of mounting holes on the board, some nice precision sockets under the ICs and a missing RF modulator, and outwardly would look unchanged aside from a slightly larger round hole where the RF connector used to be. These machines are becoming rarer and rarer and I'd wager the ones with switches and RCA connectors attached to the back of the case via freshly drilled holes will be of little interest or value after we're all dead. They'll look back at those bristling carbuncles and shake their heads the way one does when considering the concrete jungles which replaced British town centres in the Fifties and Sixties. Edited February 4, 2015 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 OK, so I successfully flashed another OS to the U1MB. Next will be adding XLFIX OS. Maybe a stupid question but I guess there is no way to put a 16k game in the CAR slots by pairing them somehow right ? Would love to have DK "built in", but if not no problem... How do I start up f.i. Missile Command by the way ? Any tips on the best 8K games to flash in those slots ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Never mind....dont't want to turn this into an 8k games list I settled for Demon Attack, Atlantis and Frogger for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Anyone know how to start the games in the Cart slots ? Also, what program can I get to test the RAM ? I've run the Numen demo successfully so I assume that all is OK, but I'd like to "see" it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 This is a nice RAM tester: http://satantronic.atari.sk/xXRAM.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Thanks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.